


Friends with Pringles

by wingsofbadass



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Actress!Sasha, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Graphic Designer!Connie, Sexy Times, adorable JeanMarco in the background, loads of junk food
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-21 15:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1555307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsofbadass/pseuds/wingsofbadass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connie is the Timon to Sasha's Pumbaa, the Pokemon Red to her Pokemon Blue, the cheese sauce to her nachos. When you already share almost every aspect of your life with your best friend, it shouldn't be a big deal to add sex to the plate. Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends with Pringles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Screw ups, throw ups and pick ups.

Soulmate

noun [c] /ˈsoʊl.meɪt/

A person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.

 

*

 

Sasha Blouse left the studio, her heart still beating violently in her chest. She wished her hands would stop trembling. As she stepped out into the spring breeze, she could feel the cold sweat trickling down her back. Pitiful. The security guy's eyes were probably still on her, regarding her with a mixture of curiosity and disdain. The faster she got away from here the better.

At least her knees had stopped trembling by now, Sasha noted, as she fumbled to get her phone out of her front pocket. Why had she even kept it in there? It must've looked ridiculous rammed into her skinny jeans. She went into her contacts and selected the first name in her Favorites, letting out a long shaky breath while she waited for him to pick up. 

“Yeah?” 

“Oh god, Connie, it was a disaster,” she whined into the speaker. A woman passing her on the sidewalk raised sharply plucked eyebrows at her and Sasha picked up her step, heading for the nearest subway station.

 “What happened?” Connie asked, his voice low with genuine sympathy.

 “I was a sweaty mess and I fucked up some of the lines and I think I might've spit a little once. This must be the most horrible audition ever. Okay, maybe not as bad as the one for Second Goth Girl last year but it's a close second!”

 “I'm sorry, Sash.” She closed her eyes for a moment. Something about his voice was always so soothing to her. “Wanna go for some ice cream?”

 “I don't think I can eat right now,” she said honestly. Her stomach was still in knots. This was crazy. She was used to being nervous about auditions but it had never been this bad. It was like the longer she went without landing a job the worse it got. Desperation had begun to seep into her mind, twisting her confidence in her abilities into monstrous fears that tore at her calm until nothing was left but a trembling wreck.

 She had left acting school full of hope and drive but now, four years later, she was still nothing but a walking cliché, waitress-slash-actress. In that order. If she didn't have Connie by her side, who was struggling with similar disappointments, albeit for different reasons, she probably would've given up by now. They kept each other afloat in this sea of frustration.

 “Wow, must be really bad, then,” Connie replied and Sasha wished she was next to him to slap the back of his head.

 “I don't have time anyway,” she told him as she descended the steps to the subway, “my shift starts soon.”

 “Oh, right.”

 “You could pick me up around ten, though?” She tried not to sound too miserable and hopeful but probably failed. “Will your mom be alright?”

 There was only the tiniest pause before he said, cheerfully: “Yeah, of course. I'll see you later.”

 

*

 

On the day Sasha met Connie, she was not even been in the mood to leave her bed. Only careful coaxing from her roommate Jean and the promise that there would be food at the party could finally move her to leave her warm cocoon of moping. Jean was not even aware that he was partially at fault for her mood. He had readily accepted her claim that she missed her ex. Everyone relapsed sometimes. Little did he know that seeing his fresh romance with his boyfriend Marco was what had plunged her back into the abyss of craving having _someone_.

 Jean should have been able to see right through her facade, being an aspiring actor himself, but his love goggles probably blended out any negative stuff. She stood in the bathroom, regarding the dark bird nest that was her hair after tossing around in bed all day. She should brush her teeth, then her hair. Then put on clothes. Yes, that was doable.

 She couldn't even be _mad_ at Jean. It wasn't like he was trying to offend her by how cute he and Marco were with each other. It wasn't like she could resent him for being so violently in love that he couldn't keep a smile off his face for longer than five seconds. It wasn't his fault that she was a bitter hag.

 “Sasha, are you done in there?” She could hear Jean banging his fist against the door.

 “No!” she yelled back thickly, her mouth full of toothpaste.

 “Can I come in? I need to do my hair.”

 "Uh-huh.”

 The door opened and Jean stepped into the little windowless bathroom wearing a gray v-neck, that showed off the edge of the stylized Aries tattoo on the left side of his chest, and black skinny jeans.

 “Wow, you look hot,” Sasha said after spitting into the sink. He flashed her a cocky grin.

 “I know. You? Not so much.”

 “Shut up, I'm working on it.” She grabbed her brush and started sorting out the mess on her head while she watched him mess up his undercut artfully next to her. “Is Marco coming too?”

 “Yeah.” Jean's whole face lit up at the mention of his boyfriend, a giddy smile playing around his lips. He met her eyes in the reflection and had the grace to blush at his own reaction. Sasha laughed at him, smacking his arm playfully. How could she ever be mad at this dork?

 “You're so adorable.”

 “Shut up.”

 The party was a at Reiner's place, a friend of theirs from acting school. He had just landed a guest role on a network sitcom as the hunky gym trainer and had invited people to celebrate. After Marco had arrived at their place and Jean had conceded that she did look hot now (bless high-waisted denim shorts), the three of them had set out, passing a bottle of cheap champagne between them.

 They arrived at Reiner's apartment slightly tipsy and slightly late, exactly as planned. Upon arrival, Reiner swooped her up in a bone-crushing hug, twirling her around like a little child. He was like a gigantic teddy bear and Sasha loved it. There was more hugging at seeing old friends she hadn't seen since graduation, like Mina, who had left her trademark ponytails behind for a bold pixie cut, and Eren, who had brought along his stunning girlfriend Mikasa and his best friend Armin as usual.

 They had already been there for quite a while, catching up with everyone, before Sasha even noticed him. She heard Marco let out a whoop of laughter and looked over, expecting him to be standing by Jean. Instead she saw him talking to a short guy with a buzz cut. Curious, she wormed her way over to them, slightly wobbly, holding her plastic cup full of rum and coke gingerly in her hand to avoid spilling.

 “No, no, it gets better!” the short guy was yelling over the music, gesticulating so enthusiastically that beer sloshed over the edge of his cup. “You know where he found the sausage the next day? On his desk! And he fucking ate it!”

 They both erupted into laughter again, as she came up next to Marco.

 “Who are you guys talking about?”

 Marco seemed to have a little trouble getting her into focus at first. While he stared at her with slightly narrowed eyes, the other guy spoke up.

 “I was telling Marco a fun story about Reiner from High School.”

 “Saaashaaa!” Marco yelled when he finally recognized her and threw an arm around her shoulders. “Connie, this is Sasha, Jean's roomie! Sasha, this is Connie! Connie is funny!”

 Sasha couldn't contain her laughter and met Connie's eyes, who seemed just as amused as she was. “Hi,” they said simultaneously.

 “So you went to school with the big guy?”

 “Yeah, it never got boring.” Connie smirked before he raised his cup to his lips and Sasha noticed that he had pretty nicely toned arms. “Did you know he used to have a little hoop earring?”

 “No way!” she shrieked in delight. This guy was a fountain of potentially important blackmail material. Next to her, Marco giggled adorably, his arm still around her shoulders and now leaning a little too much on her. “Where's your boyfriend?” she asked, glancing up at his flushed face.

 “Uuhh, bathroom maybe?”

 “Taking a long crap?”

 “You're so gross,” Marco complained, his face distorted in distaste, while Connie laughed. “I'm gonna go look for him.” And with that Marco withdrew his freckled arm and stumbled away.

 “Their love is fresh, they probably haven't even farted in front of each other,” Connie said, nodding importantly like he was sharing profound wisdom. “Don't ruin his innocence.”

 “Judging from the moaning I hear through the wall, it's too late for that,” Sasha grunted and knocked back the rest of her drink. “Up for some shots?”

 “Hell yeah!”

 Sasha was not entirely sure how she had ended up sitting on the fire escape at 4 am with Connie, his soft hoodie around her shoulders, the summer breeze playing in her hair. She felt like she learned everything there was to know about Connie Springer in those hours. He was exactly 85 days older and about 4 inches shorter than her. He had a degree in graphic design and more gaming consoles than she even knew existed. He was an only child and lived with his mother. He hated Tequila with a burning passion and ranted about it for ten minutes before agreeing to drinking it anyway.

 Talking to Connie was so easy, it was almost as if every single conversation in her life had been in preparation for this one. They laughed at the same things, him with an unabashed cackle, her with a squeaky guinea-pig sound. Or at least that's what she thought.

 Soon, she realized he had a habit of running his fingers over the stubble on his head while he talked, as if ruffling non-existing strands of hair. He wore differently colored shoe laces on his sneakers (neon pink on the left, neon green on the right). It had been a while since she had felt such an immediate connection to anyone.

 Their dispute about the LOST finale was interrupted when they heard a bang from inside the apartment, followed by some loud clanking. Connie, who was sitting closer to the window, ducked his head inside. She heard him ask what was going on.

 “Bertl fell off the couch,” a blond girl with the most stoic face Sasha had ever seen said simply, then turned away again. Sasha and Connie exchanged a look of “oookaaaay”, then snorted, their eyes not leaving each other.

 “More booze?” he asked, and she nodded, so they climbed back into the apartment. The party had shrunk considerably since they had gone outside. An incredibly tall and lanky guy was sprawled on his back, unable to get off the floor like a helpless turtle, surrounded by knocked over bottles, while tiny Armin was trying to help him up but couldn't stop giggling long enough to actually try in earnest. The blonde Connie had just talked to stood nearby, looking unimpressed. Eren, Jean's “nemesis” from acting school, was sitting in the corner with Mikasa, talking silently. His fingers were distractedly playing with a strand of her hair.

 “Woah, this is like Reiner's high school parties all over again,” Connie muttered. Sasha followed his line of vision to where their host was passed out on the sofa, completely unaware that two girls were drawing dicks on his face. “Nooo, Ymir, make it curlier,” one of them was whispering with hilarious urgency.

 “I'm glad I won't be around when he wakes up.”

 “Yeah, same here.”

 “Booze?”

 “Booze.”

 They made their way to the bathroom to get a new bottle of rum from the tub but found the door locked.

 “What the fuck?” Connie grumbled, his thin eyebrows scrunching together, rattling the door knob. “Who's in there?”

 “I know who's missing,” Sasha replied, rolling her eyes. She raised her voice and knocked on the door. “Jean! Marco! Stop fooling around in the bathroom, you're not sixteen anymore! We need alcohol! Put away your dongs!”

 Connie sniggered when they heard a groan from the other side of the door. Moments later that door was opened by a disgruntled looking Jean. Before Sasha could starting making more sex comments, he silenced her with a look.

 “We're not fooling around,” she said quietly. “Marco is puking his guts out.”

 Pitiful groaning in the background.

“Oh, nooo.”

 “Yeah, I'm taking him home in a minute.”

 “His home or our home?”

Jean smiled a little. “Our home.”

“Okay, I'm coming with you”, she said and he nodded, looking relieved. The look on his face almost canceled out the pang of regret she felt over the fact that she would not be able to spend more time with Connie tonight.

 “Could you, uh, maybe look for his shoes?”

 It took Sasha and Connie twelve minutes to find Marco's Chucks. It took Marco, who was determined to put them on himself, seven minutes to tie his shoelaces, while Jean kept trying to help only to get his hands slapped away. It took Sasha one minute to save her number to Connie's phone. It took her three seconds to decide she needed to hug him goodbye. It took her one heartbeat to realize she had just met someone special.

 

*

 

When Sasha left the diner through the back door at around quarter past ten, she could barely keep herself from skipping over to the red Ford parked at the end of the narrow alley. Despite her heavy legs, she walked swiftly over to Connie's car, her pony tail bouncing against her shoulders as she went, the plastic bag with greasy food swinging from her hand. He was looking down, his eyes shadowed by his cap, probably trained on his phone.

“Yooooo,” she called out like the loser she was from a couple of steps away and he raised his gaze to her, a smile spreading across his face like he hadn't just seen her the day before.

“Hey, nerd,” he greeted, getting out of the car to hug her. The bag with the burgers crashed against his back when she threw her arms around his shoulders and he laughed. “No need to hit me with food.”

 “Honestly,” Sasha said with a giggle and let go of him, “if you're gonna get hit with anything, it might as well be food!”

 “Words to live by.” He nodded his head towards his car. “Let's go.”

 They spent that evening on the sofa in the living room, with their feet propped up on Jean's scratched Ikea table, a buffet of burgers, fries, Pringles and Twizzlers between them and the third Game of Thrones season on DVD.

 It was comfortable, as natural as breathing, sitting together. They laughed loudly and spoke with their mouths full and argued about whether Jaime and Brienne would make better friends or lovers. The humiliation and disappointment from the audition were now merely light shadows in the back of Sasha's mind. Her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling too much. There really was nothing better than having Connie by your side when you were down.

 She glanced over at him, his face illuminated artificially by the TV set. The shadows under his eyes were more pronounced like this. Sasha knew he didn't get a lot of sleep between working and taking care of his mother. And yet, he was here beside her, making sure she was alright. She was lucky to have him.

Connie startled her out of her musings when he barked a laugh at the screen and jeered, “I can't believe she just stole his sword! Kindergarten flirting at its best!”

Sasha sniggered and turned her attention back to Jon Snow and Ygritte. Ned Stark's bastard was proving that he did, in fact, know _some_ things, when she found herself blurting out: “Ugh, I haven't had sex in ages!”

 Connie blinked at her in surprise before he let out a soft laugh. She could feel her cheeks burn a little. She shoved some Pringles into her mouth to cover up her abashment.

 Where had that come from? True, she had been single for a while but she didn't actually mind that much. She supposed she got lonely sometimes but she felt like she was much better off without a boyfriend right now. She had other things to worry about without involving the complicated and twisted aspects of a commitment.

 “However long it has been for you, I can guarantee it has been longer for me.”

 Surely that was impossible! Connie was the most laid-back guy she knew. There was no way he had any trouble getting _laid_. She knew he didn't. He hadn't mentioned any girl in a while, though... She narrowed her eyes at him.

 “Okay, let's hear it,” she challenged, turning around on the sofa to face him. “The last time I had sex was with Samuel on the evening of Armin's birthday.”

 “Oh, yeah,” he grinned, “I remember that night. You both got really sick all of a sudden and had to leave. Very subtle.”

 “I know, right?”

 “That was in November, so that makes –” he quickly counted off on his fingers, “five months.”

 Oh, _god_. Sasha threw her hands over her face in melodramatic horror that was only a little exaggerated. “It sounds even worse when you say it like that!”

 Connie's warm laugh filled the air again. “Five months, that's really cute. I haven't had sex since my mother got ill. It's kind of hard to meet someone and I don't do one night stands. So... last February. 14 months.”

 There was a short pause in which Connie looked at Sasha, trying not to appear too pathetic, and Sasha looked at Connie, trying not to appear too shocked.

 “Dude”, she said eventually, “cockblocked by mom.”

 “Momblocked.”

 “Why no one night stands, though?” she asked, a little stunned.

 He pondered that for a moment, his fingers twisting around each other nervously. “I don't know, man,” he said with a half-hearted shrug, “I've never had sex with anyone I wasn't in love with. I don't know if that's my thing.”

 Oh god, could he be any more adorable? She could tell he was pretty embarrassed to admit this, he wasn't meeting her eyes. Instantly, she felt like she needed to make him feel more at ease, the way he always did for her, distract him from his embarrassment.

 “At least you're not being cockblocked by your own weirdness.” Good job, she thought, and rewarded herself with more Pringles. He mirrored her and picked up some more chips as well.

 “What do you mean?”

 “I guess a lot of guys get kind of weirded out by me,” she said with a shrug and stuffed a handful of Pringles into her mouth. “Thith ithnt ethacly thexthy.” Crumbs sprayed out of her mouth as she spoke. Connie laughed at her and crammed even more chips into his own mouth as though accepting an unspoken challenge.

 “Ah thing you thexthy!” Sasha's eyes widened a little at that, her heart stumbled in her chest. Connie gave an enormous swallow. “I-I mean, you know, you're a good-looking, uh, girl and a great person and if some douchebags can't see that, then they're not even worthy of you and –“ He swallowed again, desperate eyes darting to the screen as though hoping it might provide some clarity for his thoughts. She was not surprised to see his hand fly up to flick over his short hair. He looked so cute in that moment it almost put his sweet words to shame.

 “I don't ever want to leave this cave, Jon Snow. Not ever,” Ygritte was saying into the silence.

 Sasha nudged him with her foot.

 “Aw, don't be embarrassed. I'd totally sleep with you too.”

 He looked back at her.

 “Yeah?”

 “Yeah.”

 They smiled at each other carefully, then turned back to the TV, their air between them laden with the possibility of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Connie!
> 
> This story has been on my mind for a while and it's been a lot of fun to plan and write. Shit is gonna pick up next chapter (and probably raise the rating, oops). I hope you enjoy it was much as I do. Comments are like chips for my soul so I would love feedback :)
> 
> Special thank you goes to [Monkey](http://archiveofourown.org/users/monkeysocks/pseuds/monkeysocks) for betaing!


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